Pilot In Terrifying Transasia Crash May Have Shut Off the Wrong Engine

Trying to power down the engine that flamed out, the pilot may have killed the only working engine by mistake.

The captain of the TransAsia plane that crashed shortly after takeoff in Taipei last February accidentally shut down the wrong engine—the only working one—when the second engine lost power, according to a transcript and initial report released in Taiwan. The report also revealed that he realized his mistake just seconds before the plane's fatal dive into a river.

While the initial report doesn't pin blame directly on the pilot, the facts as laid out in the document leave little doubt that an inexplicable lapse in judgment contributed to the tragedy on Feb. 4, 2015. Of the 53 58 people aboard, only 15 survived. A full report is due in April of next year.

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Other disturbing details emerged, too, including the fact that pilot, who had just attained captain status months before, had failed simulator training a year earlier. He did pass it on the second try.

The 42-year-old pilot did have more than 3,000 hours in the aircraft type he was flying, the French-made ATR 72-500, and nearly 5,000 total hours aloft. But notes from instructors that were attached to the report indicate that he had trouble making decisions in exercises design to replicate emergency situations.

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Judging from the transcript, the initial glitch that set off the series of failures shouldn't have been catastrophic. Minutes after takeoff, a failure in the automated flight system's sensor connector cut off power to one engine, generating a flame-out warning to the cockpit. Like many aircraft, this plane was designed to fly on one engine. The pilot then took the usual precaution of throttling back on the idled engine—or so he thought.

But 46 seconds later, the plane stalled, with the pilots at first unaware of what was happening. The pilot attempted to restore some power to the good engine when he suddenly realized what he'd done, saying "Wow, pulled back the wrong side throttle." At that point the plane was spiraling out of control, directly over a busy bridge where shocked bystanders captured its final moments on video.

The agency's report indicated that an automatic system to control power at takeoff hadn't been armed, but it's not clear how, or whether, that contributed to the crash. In any event, the system did kick in once the plane was airborne. The system's U.S. manufacturer is participating in the investigation.